Toshiba said it will be forced to once again postpone the ramp up of SED (surface-conduction electron-emitter display) TV sets, a project which has been plagued by delays and was originally targeted for retail shipments by the holiday selling season next fall. The major problems are believed to be mostly legal in nature, not technical.

Toshiba said its latest decision is based on information provided by its SED partner, Canon, and the latter firm's inability to provide SED panels on the original schedule. Toshiba issued a brief statement in Tokyo on this latest setback.

"The specific timeframe for the launch of SED TVs cannot be indicated at this moment," the company said. Problems began cropping up earlier this year (HD Notebook, Feb. 28, 2007).